NCAA decision to cancel remaining winter and spring sport championships results in unprecedented and emotional conclusion to collegiate experience for several individuals in Albuquerque, among other locations

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – As the final student-athletes and coaches from the few remaining schools gathered their gear and equipment Thursday and prepared to exit the Albuquerque Convention Center, the sound system in the arena began playing the 1987 R.E.M. song, “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It.”

It was a unique parallel to draw for those who were still in attendance at the near-empty venue that was supposed to be the site for the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships.

“We’re all dressed up and no place to go,” UCLA cross country coach and distance assistant Devin Elizondo said. “I can only imagine this is what it would feel like when you’re standing at the altar and finding out your wedding has been canceled.”

Ninety minutes earlier, hundreds of student-athletes were still running warmup laps, practicing block starts, working on hurdle exercises and getting familiar with the runways for both the horizontal jumps and pole vault, still anticipating the competition would take place Friday and Saturday.

Although the announcement of the cancellation of the track and field final – one of 14 sports held in the winter or spring that the NCAA decided not to hold championships for this year over concerns of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak – was not the end of the world for the individuals involved, it did indicate the end of several collegiate careers.

Seniors, fifth-year athletes and graduate students were faced with the reality of not just having the indoor championship meet canceled less than 24 hours before its scheduled start, but also learning that their potential opportunities to participate in the Division 1 outdoor final in June in Austin, Texas wouldn’t exist as well.

In the case of competitors like Washington pole vaulter Olivia Gruver, a two-time Division 1 outdoor champion and collegiate record holder, along with Arkansas distance runner and Australian standout Cameron Griffith, the indoor season marked the end of their available athletic eligibility, both in their fifth years.

“It’s a rough way for it to end,” Griffith said.

The unprecedented decision of the NCAA not only resulted in the cancellation of the event in Albuquerque, but also the Division 2 Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Ala., and the Division 3 final in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Not since 1986, when the Division 2 indoor final wasn’t contested, had an NCAA track and field championship been canceled for any reason.

“It’s heartbreaking,” North Carolina A&T coach Duane Ross said. “It’s a difficult time, for sure.”

Even if the meet had taken place as scheduled, the health concerns over the global pandemic already had the NCAA not allowing family or spectators to attend the competition in Albuquerque.

In addition, Harvard, Arizona State, Kansas, Duke, UCLA and Washington made decisions as institutions not to allow their student-athletes to compete, followed by the Atlantic Coast and Big Ten conferences.

But there were still several elite individuals and established programs prepared to compete, including Northern Arizona, which had distance athletes Geordie Beamish, Tyler Day, Blaise Ferro, Luis Grijalva, Abdihamid Nur, Theo Quax and Ryan Raff practicing in preparation to contend for a national championship relying only on their performances in the mile, 3,000 and 5,000 meters.

“We have guys who are in tears because it means that much to them,” Northern Arizona coach Mike Smith said. “It’s really tough, especially for the seniors.”

UCLA redshirt sophomore Shae Anderson had waited more than a year after recovering from injury to return to an indoor championship after competing as a freshman at Oregon in 2018 in College Station, Texas.

“I’ve been looking forward to this for so long and I was ready to do something really special. I think we all were,” said Anderson, who was scheduled to run the 400 meters and 4x400 relay.

“I know there are still big things ahead in the future, whenever that is. I’m still going to train because I need to be ready for when we’re allowed to compete again.”

Even after the announcement in the arena of the cancellation, student-athletes continued to train and complete workouts, with a light moment involving Georgia freshman Matthew Boling catching a pair of Virginia Tech runners from behind with a strong sprint to the finish during a 400-meter time trial.

But the reality also sunk in as coaches and teammates began to take commemorative photos by the NCAA banners that the season would conclude without the honoring of All-Americans or the crowning of national champions.

Instead of preparing Anna Camp-Bennett, Alena Ellsworth, Lauren Ellsworth and Whittni Orton to compete for a national title Friday in the distance medley relay, Brigham Young associate director of cross country and track and field Diljeet Taylor was consoling her student-athletes during tearful embraces.

“This whole thing is surreal. And finding out that outdoor is canceled as well, it’s just a crappy situation,” Taylor said. “But I told all of them that just because this happened doesn’t mean their dreams end here. It just means that they’re delayed.”